The Only Player in ‘Child of Stardust’
Chapter 298 - 208: Retrograde

Chapter 298: Chapter 208: Retrograde

"Bro, can you not hit my face?"

"Big bro, how about I stick my butt out for you to hit?"

"Brother... can you go easy on me?"

The unfortunate cultivators knew they couldn’t escape this disaster, so they could only force out a fawning smile, begging Zhou Yuan to go easy on them. After all, no one hits a smiling face...

Zhou Yuan didn’t make things too hard for them. He gave each one a punch, controlling his strength very precisely. It didn’t hurt much, but their foreheads swelled up with bright red lumps. It looked serious enough so they could later "reasonably" ask the elders for compensation.

Boom!

A loud explosion sounded as the Mud Shadow Pool burst open, and thick, dark substance splashed out in all directions like blobs of mud.

Someone broke free.

"Zhou Yuan, you sneaky bastard!" A man in white sneered darkly, "The one thing I despise most in life is a deceitful scoundrel who relies on sneak attacks."

Whoosh—

A gust of wind howled, hitting his face. The man in white only saw a blur before taking a heavy punch to the face. His consciousness blanked out for a moment and he fell into darkness.

When he regained consciousness, he was horrified to find half of his face embedded in the ground, his head throbbing with pain.

Zhou Yuan’s foot pressed down on his face as he calmly questioned, "What did you just call me?"

"Zhou... Brother Zhou."

The man in white changed his tune faster than flipping a book, perfectly embodying the adaptability of a man. He forced out a couple of awkward laughs, "I was just joking earlier, don’t take it to heart. It’s my own weakness... how could that have been a sneak attack? It was clearly an upright area attack skill."

"Smart move."

Zhou Yuan lifted his foot and looked around. Quite a few experts had already shaken off the Mud Shadow Pool’s control and were hovering in the air, eyeing him with hostility.

"Feel like fighting?"

Zhou Yuan grinned, his smile tinged with craziness. "Come at me all at once."

"Didn’t expect someone even crazier than us from the Fire God Church."

A dark-skinned youth with fiery red hair showed a taunting grin. "Seems like you’ve tangled with some trash and now mistakenly think you’re strong. You want to fight all of us? You’ll die before you even know how you died!"

"Quit yapping like you’re not even from the Fire God Church, let’s waste him first, then talk!" An extraordinary person from the Sea God Church with lightning powers was extremely irritable. The lightning tattoo on his face shone with intense sparks, summoning a bolt of lightning towards Zhou Yuan.

"Heh..." The dark-skinned youth chuckled, gathering a flaming spear in his hand. He threw it with all his might, piercing through the air and leaving a dazzling red streak like a meteor.

With a thought, Zhou Yuan made the Mud Shadow Pool boil, and the dark substance surged up like a massive wave in a boundless ocean. The lightning and flaming spear plunged into it, disappearing instantly, as if something insignificant had fallen into a vast, raging sea.

The Devouring Shadow rapidly decomposed and absorbed the violent energy, converting it to pure spirituality, replenishing more than half of Zhou Yuan’s spent energy instantly.

Countless tendrils shot out from the dark waves, swarming towards the two men. Their expressions changed slightly, and they each displayed their skills to grapple with the dark tendrils. Flames and lightning filled the sky in a terrifying display of power.

"Are you guys going to make a move? If not, just watch from the sidelines." Zhou Yuan scanned the surrounding experts. Some saw he was tough and left, while others narrowed their eyes, itching to fight.

In the end, they couldn’t hold back their battle lust and jumped in.

DONG—

An ancient great bell with a purple aura descended from the sky, trying to trap Zhou Yuan under it.

But this area had already turned into a dark domain where Zhou Yuan could move seamlessly. In an instant, he completed a teleportation.

Under the great bell, the Shadow Clone held an unremarkable stone bow. Though it had no bowstring, as it mimed drawing the bow, a black arrow formed instantly, silently shooting towards the great bell.

DONG!!!

The black arrow exploded, and a deafening bell sound rang out. Sound waves rippled in layers, spreading over hundreds of meters, shattering the crowns of some towering trees into powder.

Pff!

The great bell flew away, and a young cultivator with a buzz cut spat out blood, suffering a backlash from his life-bound artifact, his face full of disbelief.

Just one arrow...

And it was only from a clone!

After shooting the arrow, the Shadow Clone didn’t dissipate. It continued to draw the bow, aiming at the blood-spitting young cultivator. A strong killing intent rose from within, scaring the young man into hastily retreating from the battlefield.

Boom!

Suddenly, a small cauldron radiating dazzling light crashed into the Shadow Clone, exploding it into a cloud of black mist.

Though the cauldron was small, it emanated an awe-inspiring presence with ancient patterns on it, like a miniature world, emitting mysterious and profound energy.

"Be careful, this is my Mountain and River Cauldron."

The speaker was Chu Tianxiao, one of the top ten youths in the Cultivation World. He was dressed very modernly with casual clothes, a pink headphone around his neck, and a shirt featuring a cute anime bear girl image, clearly a die-hard anime fan.

"Why do all of your artifacts either look like bells or cauldrons?" Zhou Yuan quipped.

"Because they’re both flashy and grand." Chu Tianxiao answered honestly.

"A sword would be flashier, wouldn’t it?"

"But we’re not sword cultivators."

Well, that actually made sense.

With a thought, Zhou Yuan split into dozens of Shadow Clones charging the enemy. He pulled out the Eastern Town Rod, ruthlessly smashing towards the oncoming Mountain and River Cauldron.

Clang.

Sparks flew like meteors, the two weapons clashing with the sound of hammering metal, producing a deafening clang.